Human beings often display simple primate behaviour, as a consequence of human evolution from ape-like creatures as postulated by Charles Darwin. Simple primate behaviour, as observed in contemporary situations amongst chimpanzees, includes individuals operating in peer groups and individuals competing within given peer groups to attain high peer positions within the given peer groups. Such behaviour is observed for groups of humans when playing computer-implemented games, for example in games arcades, frequented by children and young adults for group entertainment. A given individual who is able to play a particular arcade game to a high level of skill and proficiency wins special respect from other individuals within a given games-playing peer group. Contemporary arcade games allow for users to enter their initials together with their high score for prestige purposes, thereby asserting their peer position.
In a published U.S. Pat. No. 7,611,410, there is described a method for verifying that a shared high score in an online environment is true. In the method described, a player terminal receives a game program downloaded from an online game server, and the game is then played on the player terminal. A plurality of players execute the same online game, and mutually compete for achieving a high score when playing the game. The scores achieved by the players, together with an operation history of the players, are transmitted to the online game server. For the highest score achieved, a corresponding play of the game which resulted in the highest score is reproduced, based the operation history received by the online server; the fairness of the highest score is thereby verified based upon the score attained by executing the reproduction.
Moreover, in a published U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,485, there is described a high-score sharing display system for a video game, wherein the system includes a game controller of the video game. When a high score is achieved during playing of the game, the game controller is operable to store game sequences associated with achieving the high score. Subsequently, the stored game sequences can be utilized to simulate the played game as represented by the high score for verification purposes.
In the foregoing, there are employed, in effect, high-score leaderboards, namely scoreboards, that require their associated games to employ a deterministic game engine, namely so that the games can be reproduced with an identical gameplay each time the scores in the high-score leaderboards are to be reproduced, for example for training or verification purposes. However, a large proportion of contemporary computer-base games employ simulations based on physics, for example based on random number generators, that render their associated games engines non-deterministic in operation, resulting in a gameplay experiences not being reproducible based upon gameplay inputs provided to achieve the high scores. Moreover, contemporary games are generated from games engines which are responsive to gameplay inputs from users, wherein the gameplay inputs are not transportable to other games, for example in other game-playing environments.
Competitive players of games enjoy games with leaderboards showing highest scores with identification of corresponding players, because it allows for bragging by those players attaining the highest scores; in other words, the leaderboards provide players with “bragging rights”. Moreover, for those players who are not able to aspire initially to the highest scores, the leaderboards provide a mechanism for personal improvement in game playing.
Game playing, for example via the Internet, is financed either on a per-play basis, or by advertising content presented concurrently to users whilst engaged in game playing activities. In order to increase revenues, competition between players of a given game result in the game being played more frequently, and hence potentially higher revenues for the proprietors of the game proprietors and/or games service providers.